Fathers and Neal
by mybrotherharry
Summary: *Response fic to the Season 4 Finale - SPOILERS* Its wierd how he ended up here and now, in this prison cell when twelve hours ago he was reassuring El that he would be back for dinner. Neal/Peter father-son bonding. NO SLASH.


**A/N: SPOILER ALERT! SPOILERS TO SEASON 4 FINALE EPISODE. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.**

**Disclaimer: White Collar, Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke or any of the associated characters belong to Jeff Eastin and ABC. NOT MINE. NO MONEY MADE. **

**There is NO slash. Its a fic that focusses on the "almost paternal relationship Neal has with the Suit", the aftermath of the episode and how things kick off from there. **

**Reviews are loved.**

* * *

Its wierd how he ended up here and now, in this prison cell when twelve hours ago he was reassuring El that he would be back for dinner.

_Oh God, El._

She was going to kill him, if he _ever_ made it out of this one alive.

* * *

Neal is his first visitor. Of course, he is.

His stride is a little off, his eyes are a little watery, his voice is a little broken and his shirt is a little wrinkled.

Small signs, signs that the rest of the world may never pick up, but Neal Caffrey could have been Peter's thesis at Quantico. He has studied this man more thoroughly than anyone else in the world.

Then, Neal is right there in the little meeting room at the penitentiary, weeping, sobbing into Peter's dirty shirt that he is _sorry_, that he will get Peter out of this, no matter what it takes. Peter just holds him, whispering sweet-nothings in his ear, hearing fate's wings mocking them both for this turn of tables. This is Nature's cruel inversion of the last time Peter and Neal sat in a prison meeting room, one of them in orange, the other in a suit.

* * *

He is not angry with Neal.

That is the thing, you see, at the end of the day, Peter's not mad at Neal. He is raging mad at James. Because Neal is _not_ Peter's son and yet, Peter will not, _cannot_ betray Neal. The thought that Neal's father can go back on a word given and a promise made, can break Neal's trust like that, can lie to his son's face: it fills Peter with a foreign emotion, an almost murderous emotion.

Its going to push Neal four years back on the progress they had made, the progress Peter had pushed day and night for Neal to make, progress with trusting people, progress with liking himself, progress with being happy. Peter's always known Neal's daddy issues are deep and rooted in something stronger than just abandonment and loneliness, they go further than simply the concept of an absent father.

The man Neal is today, Peter likes to believe, is different than the man he was four years ago. Maybe this Neal is more _Peter-like_ than _James-like_. Peter's never liked James. The man had triggered off alarm bells in his head the first time they met; but Neal usually has a better radar for reading people and he had done his double-triple checks, so Peter let it be. In hindsight, he realises that it was a stupid mistake. He let Neal convince him that he was not emotionally compromised when its clear as daylight _now_ that the usual objectivity and brilliance of the conman have been conspicuously missing throughout this ordeal. It all makes so much sense now...

Peter won't deny that James loves Neal, but maybe acted without realising the consequences his actions would have on others. James and Neal: so alike, yet, so very different. Neal's actions, no matter how hare-brained, how crazy, would never put an innocent bystander in trouble. Neal would never kill a man. Neal would never kill a man and lie to his son about it. Hell, Neal would not lie to Peter about it. Neal's targets were always people who were assholes, people who didn't deserve what Neal stole from them anyway. It was something that had attracted Peter in the beginning, when Neal had just been James Bonds and Peter had a moustache. Even then, Neal's basic decency was apparent. Neal is not his father, something Neal will never believe now.

_"...Tell me that I am not my father's son, Peter..."_

Peter remembers conversations from an entire lifetime ago that had proved to him, once and for all that Neal sees himself as a worthless human being, walking in his father's footsteps. Peter had assuaged that guilt, he had convinced him otherwise. Neal would never believe him now.

* * *

Neal and Mozzie come up with a crazy, eclectic scheme and prove James' guilt. The scheme has a one in million chance of working, but it does, with a little help from Diana and Sara. The FBI tracks James down and he is put away in maximum security for good. In three weeks, Peter's back home with El, an innocent and free man restored to his rightful place in the world. Three weeks and an investigation later, Peter gets his badge and gun back. He gets his happily ever after.

Except he is not very happy.

Neal's lost to him now. He knows it. Neal's smiling the same fake smile at everyone in the office and making pots of good coffee and brainstorming their way out through another fifty odd cases before Peter gathers the nerve to confront him one evening. They are at the Burkes' house and El is at some event, so they have the house to themselves. Neal's saying something about fraudulent bonds and seals and fake ink and Peter's not listening.

"...You are not listening, Peter," says Neal, looking up from the evidence photos in his hand.

"Umm, you ever spoke with your father after the trial?"

Neal visibly flinches and his entire body stiffens before he regains his composure.

"No, why?"

"Don't you want to talk to him? I mean, you did spend the longest time looking for-"

"I have nothing to say to him, Peter," Neal's tone is light and he is not meeting Peter's eyes, warning signs that Peter identifies as _"I-don't-want-to-talk-about-this"_. Neal has a hundred non-verbal gestures and Peter knows them all.

"I think you should talk to him, he loves you and did what he did for you," Peter says, not sure why he is defending the man who framed him for murder.

"He lied to me, Peter. He was a dirty cop. He killed. Besides, why are you pressing this issue?" Peter has no answers to that, except that he knows Neal has regrets and that they are killing him from the inside.

Peter simply shrugs.

"Why didn't you try and save him?" Neal raises his eyebrows at him, his expression clearly stating shock that Peter would believe less of him. "I knew you would move hell and earth to clear my name, but I just assumed you would find a loophole for him to walk free. He is your father, Neal."

"I have all the family I need right here," Neal says and his eyes are boring the deepest wells into Peter's now, "I had to choose between saving you and saving my father. The thing is that there really was_ no choice_ at all. If I had to do it all over again, I would choose you each time."

"Neal-"

"If my father really loved me, he would have surrendered. He would have known what you mean to me. In what regard I hold you. Sometimes, you don't know either."

Peter has no answer to that. Words are not his strong suit. So he does what he knows best. He reverts the attention back to the case at hand. This time, he pays attention to the breakthrough that Neal has made with the ink in the bond. It really is brilliant, one part crazy and one part cerebral. Peter pats him on the back, and says "You did good, kid!"

If it _is_ a father that Neal needs, Peter can be that for him. He knows how to. Better than James, at least. Peter can definitely father Neal Caffrey, keep him out of trouble, give him morals, can keep him progressing morally and emotionally, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. So what if James has destroyed the fragile emotional security Neal had developed over the past four years? Peter can rebuild that, right from scratch.

Because, Neal is worth it.

"Let me call Diana and let her know about the fake ink," Peter grabs his phone and ruffles Neal's hair affectionately. He pouts and fixes it back to its impeccable state, hiding a smile.

In fact, both of them are smiling. Peter, secure in the knowledge that Neal will be fine as long as he is there and Neal, secure in the knowledge that Peter will be there to catch him, no matter how many more estranged family members leave him clueless and shattered.

Its a good deal.


End file.
